On the first day of school, students take a picture with this "I am a math person" frame. One of their last assignments is to take a look at that picture and reflect on how they have grown mathematically throughout this course. I love this reflection.
1/ THINGS I WISH I KNEW SOONER:
1. People aren't thinking about you nearly as much as you think they are
2. Blame is a mostly useless concept
3. The quality of your relationships dictates the quality of your life
4. Nothing meaningful in life is easy; nothing easy is meaningful
I have people in my DMs concerned that @Desmos is helping students learn tricks to pass their state's end-of-course exams. I spent some time looking at their concerns, and the exams, in my latest newsletter. https://t.co/UZ7tZTQQQD
Never be totally right. Being right means you're done learning. You're closed off from ideas. It means you're satisfied with where you are and not focused on where you're going. Never allow yourself to be totally right.
A1: "Not everything the students do has to be graded." Back in 2003 this was mind-blowing for me. It made me more effective by refocusing me on FA + feedback. Not groundbreaking in 2021 but 18 years ago it was. #ATAssessment
A2: That a behavioral misstep (irresponsible) --> academic consequence (lower score) is absurd. Should, then, an academic misstep (can't add fractions) --> behavioral consequence (suspended). Why is one *strange* but the other "that's how we've always done it" #ATAssessment
Every time I assign something and a student asks
"Is this for a grade?"
At first I get kind of annoyed. And then I remember that WE did this to them. It's not their fault--they've adapted to our broken system of carrots & sticks
Next week is going to be SUPER! Let's dress up and show some pride. The most spirited student and staff member will win a prize!
@NorthtownNews#LETSGOCHIEFFFFFFS
For every 1-min you worry about "academic dishonesty" in remote learning, spend 5 min redesigning the assessment itself so you don't set kids up for failure by allowing today's 'pressure' to choose for them; they can only copy that which is copyable. #ATAssessment#sblchat#atplc